Building a Marketplace for Engineers with Breanden Beneschott

“It’s like trying to give any sort of standardized test to people who are essentially hackers – these things get hacked. People are much more complex than an automated algorithm test.”

Toptal is a platform for hiring the top freelance engineers and designers in the world. Toptal vets its applicants with a thorough and holistic process to ensure that both employers and engineers find the right fit.

Breandan Beneschott is the cofounder and COO of Toptal.

Questions

Why did you start Toptal?

What’s lacking with existing freelance websites like Upwork?

How many of the engineers on Toptal have a degree versus being self-taught?